Dual Credits

BRIEF SUMMARY

Dual credit is the term given to courses in which high school students have the opportunity to earn both high school and college credits simultaneously. Dual credit courses are taught by high school faculty, adjunct college faculty or college faculty either at the high school, at the college or university, or sometimes through online courses or distance education. Dual credit is offered by both state and independent (private, regionally accredited) colleges and universities. (https://www.doe.in.gov/ccr/dual-credit)

KEY POINTS

It appears that different colleges have different policies on whether your grade follows the dual credit to the university. Counselors may need to help students research this so they know best how to proceed. See Counselortalk discussion thread Dual Credit Responses Counselortalk April 2018.

When a class is dual credit and AP, the student usually earns the same credit–either through dual credit or the AP exam. For example with AP Psychology that is also dual credit, the student is earning PSYC 101 through dual credit. If they also take the AP exam and score a 3 or higher, most colleges will award the same 3 college credits for this course. So in this case there is very little incentive to take the AP exam, if the student is already earning the dual credit.However there are some benefits to keeping both the AP and the dual credit designations on your classes. In cases where the student does not register for dual credit due to a lack of prerequisites, that student could potentially still earn credit based on their AP exam score. Also, transfer of dual credit is not guaranteed at private or out of state colleges. Having an AP exam score as a backup could be beneficial. Another advantage of allowing students to take AP exams while also earning dual credit is the possibility of earning more than 3 college credits for a very high AP exam score.In general dual credit courses are more beneficial because if students do well in the course, they will automatically earn college credit, instead of having to depend on the results of an AP exam. But with a class that is both dual credit and AP, you have the best of both options!

Another issue with the dual credit classes is how difficult it has become to get teachers approved to teach dual credit. With no incentive to get a master’s degree or take even extra course work we don’t have teachers who are qualified.

Indiana State University offers support to teachers who want to be certified to teach dual credit; see flyer